The invention relates to methods of and to apparatus for draping block-shaped commodities into panels of paper or other wrapping material. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in methods of and in apparatus for draping panels of flexible wrapping material around relatively large block-shaped commodities, for example, around so-called folio reams having a length of 20-52 inches, a width of 14-38 inches and a height of 5/8-31/2 inches. The following description will deal primarily with the wrapping of folio reams; however, it is to be understood that the method and apparatus of the present invention can be utilized with equal or similar advantage for the wrapping of other substantially block-shaped commodities which may but need not constitute piles or stacks of discrete sheets or groups of sheets of paper, cardboard, metallic foil, plastic foil or the like.
A drawback of presently known folio ream wrapping apparatus is that their output is too low. Moreover, presently known apparatus are incapable of tightly draping the panels of wrapping material around each side of the confined ream. This detracts from the appearance and stability of the wrapped ream. Still further, each change of setup necessitates a prolonged stoppage of a conventional folio ream wrapping apparatus. Thus, there exists an urgent need for an improved folio ream wrapping method and apparatus.